At the Museum

Susan Suarez President & CEO

The Museum’s annual Triumph event at the Arthrex Conference Center was a great success! Thank you to our sponsors and all who attended for your support. Guest speaker Michael Abramowitz from Freedom House gave a most insightful presentation on the current state of international human rights and pro-democracy movements. He is well qualified to speak on the subject due to personal contact with people on the ground in those movements. Net funds raised benefited our education programs.

Education department update

Our work with students and schools, to teach about the Holocaust and combat antisemitism, was featured in Neapolitan Family Magazine in its March issue. The article includes comments from high school student Bailey Reum. We applaud Bailey for being an upstander by speaking out and serving as a volunteer docent at the Museum. You can read the article at https://issuu.com/neafam/docs/march_2023_a/22.

Museum Education Specialist David Nelson and Keith Stringfellow, a USHMM teaching fellow from Winter Haven, FL, conducted a spring teacher workshop at the Museum. Participants in the all-day session came from elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges across Southwest Florida. The agenda focused on the latest trends in Holocaust education and provided teachers with information and resources to use with their students. The group took advantage of the opportunity to share their insights and experiences of teaching about the Holocaust in the variety of grade levels represented.

Teacher workshop room

Our Education department has also been working with 6th-grade students at Temple Shalom’s Sunday School as they learn about the Holocaust. David Nelson gave a presentation on Holocaust hero Irena Sendler, and Museum Board Member, Docent and Education Volunteer Stuart Mest, M.D. spoke to the class about children in the Holocaust. Dr. Mest’s parents were Holocaust survivors. Survivor Rob Nossen, a board member, docent and education volunteer at the Museum, shared his family’s experiences, as did survivor Judit Price. The class also had a private tour of the Museum led by Docent and Education Volunteer Irving Waldman.

The Education department continues to see an increase in the number of student and private group tours being scheduled. If you would like more information about the variety of educational options we offer, including bringing displays and speakers to your school, please email David Nelson at David@hmcec.org.

The Boxcar Exhibit, on loan to the Museum from F.E. and Jack Nortman and The Boxcar Foundation, will be at the Lehigh Acres Middle School this month. It then travels to the Punta Gorda Library for May.

Two Regimes exhibit

Our temporary exhibit in the Estelle and Stuart Price Gallery is on display through April. Through special arrangement, giclee prints of some of the paintings in the exhibit by Artist Nadia Werbitzky are available for $35, plus tax. Please contact Museum Curator Cody Rademacher at Cody@hmcec.org for more information.

“Movies that Matter” update

The next “Movies that Matter – Steve Brazina Memorial Film Series” Zoom panel discussion will be held on Wednesday, May 3 from 4 to 5 p.m. (EST). The documentary, “APART,” looks at the impact on women incarcerated on drug-related charges and their families. The film follows Tomika, Amanda and Malika as they try to restore family life during and after their prison terms.

Zoom panelists will include Tammy Franklin, associate director, academy programs at Prison Fellowship. Prison volunteers shaped her life. Today, Franklin is bringing that same ray of hope back to incarcerated women.

Also joining the panel will be a representative from Avow Hospice, Inc.’s counseling program for children with incarcerated parents. One week prior to the Zoom discussion, a link to watch "APART" will be sent to all people who signed up. A link to Zoom will be sent 24 hours before the program. To RSVP, please visit www.hmcec.org.

North wing light installation

North wing update

Construction continues on our new north wing. The interior walls are up, and lighting and new window installations are nearly complete. The additional space will allow for a new classroom, an Auschwitz gallery, another gallery for other genocides and human rights, larger temporary exhibit space, and more. Upon completion, the Museum will increase from 6,000 square feet to 9,600 square feet. This will allow us to serve thousands more students and guests each year. North wing naming opportunities are available. For more information, please contact me at 239-263-9200 or susan@hmcec.org.

Condolences

Our condolences to the families of local Holocaust survivors Paul Simko and Max Weisglass. We received word that both gentlemen recently passed away.

Yom HaShoah

This year, the annual community commemoration of Yom HaShoah will take place on Monday, April 17, 7 p.m., at the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center. For more information, visit jewishnaples.org.

We look forward to seeing you at the Museum!